IBM X-Force Report Says Mobile Threats Twice As High in 2011

Following up its recent survey showing SSD love is on the rise, a new report from IBM says mobile security problems are rising, too. Read on for the facts, figures and highlights with the all-important channel perspective. Opportunity abounds …

IBM's report on mobile security comes straight from research derived from IBM's X-Force 2011 risk report. The bottom line: Internet bad guys are getting smarter, and the quantity of mobile devices to exploit are rising. That's a perfect set of ingredients for a vulnerability witch's brew. Making it more potent is consumerization of IT and bring-your-own-device acceptance now proliferating in the enterprise.

According to the IBM X-Force risk report:

Third-party applications with malicious code are likely to be the top method of infection

Mobile malware will likely look to steal personal information rather than do harm to data

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), which are teams of hackers, are growing and targeting "big fish" targets that have access to large amounts of sensitive data

Use of anonymous proxy servers have increased 4 times over, making harder to track down hackers

Firewalls or strict corporate compliance rules can mitigate some of these issues, but for those looking for a more permanent solution to the security issues surrounding consumer device adoption, a more robust solution may be needed. Dell KACE, for example, recently updated its offerings for mobile management of Android and iOS, and Symantec offers a swath of mobile security solutions. Channel partners who haven't embraced all the opportunities that consumerization of IT provides should hop on board as soon as they can. This trend isn't slowing down anytime soon, but grabbing the low-hanging fruit while you still can isn't a bad idea.